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Andy Brassell: Deschamps in a League of his own - Europe
After being outclassed in their Europa League exit to Benfica, OM recovered superbly to defeat Lyon in a top-of-the-table clash at the Velodrome before ...
It had to be DD. Finally Olympique de Marseille's 17 years of trophy-free suffering is over, and it took the return of the most decorated French footballer of all time to make it right. When Didier Deschamps returned to the southern French port last summer to coach the club he served with such distinction as a player in the early 1990s, it was destined to be death or glory.
So far, it looks like being the latter. Marseille steamrollered champions (and fellow title contenders) Bordeaux 3-1 in the League Cup final at the Stade de France on Saturday, and celebrated joyously on an open-top bus in the spring sun the following afternoon, back home on the Vieux Port.
The French League Cup has had a rough old ride in the last few years. Paris Saint-Germain's 2008 victory was sullied by the unveiling of a huge, offensive banner by a group of their fans at half-time in the final, when an apoplectic Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to leave the stadium if it was not removed. PSG were allowed to keep the cup but were banned from defending it, before the ruling was appealed and overturned.
This time last year, the Ligue de Football Professionel (LFP) considered killing off the competition after broadcasters showed little interest in taking up the TV rights. So president Frederic Thiriez and company were considerably boosted by a keenly fought showpiece between arguably the two best sides in France today. Laurent Blanc had intimated before the final that he was more concerned with the upcoming Champions League quarter-final against Lyon, but started the match with virtually his strongest line-up, even if Blanc elected to give star turns Yoann Gourcuff and Marouane Chamakh a breather after Mathieu Valbuena gave OM a 2-0 lead.
For the victors, there was no feeling of second best about it. Having endured relegation, financial ruin and playing second fiddle to pretty much every other decent club in the country at some point in the period since their last trophy - the 1993 Champions League, no less - any silverware would do. It was just a shame that Robert Louis-Dreyfus, the club's major benefactor, wasn't around to see it having funded the club throughout their lean years. He died last July after a long battle with leukaemia.
It was apt that Deschamps, who lifted the Champions League in Munich in 1993, brought events full circle as coach. He is more than simply a decent boss familiar with the specific politics and pressures of France's most-loved club. To the supporters, he is a symbol of a time when OM were truly great, with legends like Marcel Desailly, Abedi Pele, Franck Sauzee and Basile Boli (who scored the winner against Milan) making up a side that thrilled Europe. The coach also gives the public the hope that they could be that great again.
It also appears that Deschamps has instilled into his troops the famous grit that epitomised his own playing career (Eric Cantona's infamous "water-carrier" remark was actually a highly accurate compliment). After being outclassed in their Europa League exit to Benfica, OM recovered superbly to defeat Lyon in a top-of-the-table clash at the Velodrome before going on to impose themselves so convincingly at the Stade de France. They have an unusually stable squad - a tribute to the coach, who has rehabilitated the likes of Valbuena and Hatem Ben Arfa after they had previously looked set for the exit. A first title since 1992 (1993's was stripped from them as part of their punishment for bribing officials) is far from out of the question.
The times they are a-changin' in the French game, and Marseille being back in competitive fettle is just part of it. Lyon's dominance in winning seven successive titles was a magnificent achievement but created a climate of fear in Ligue 1, spawning negative approaches from many sides. Blanc, and Bordeaux, have reinvigorated the competition, and the likes of OM, Lille and even Montpellier and Auxerre are now challenging. This week's all-French Champions League quarter-final is testament to the new life breathed into football in the Hexagon.
Change is not only afoot on the field. L'Equipe revealed last week that representatives of the Big Four - Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille and PSG - had been in secret talks over the future governance of the French game. The ludicrous saga over the timetabling of Lyon's pre-Champions League match against Grenoble (it was switched to Friday when they qualified, then switched back to Saturday after Bordeaux qualified and complained of favouritism) wasn't a motivation for the meet, but incidents like this have led the big cheeses at the top clubs to doubt Thiriez's, and the LFP's, ability to organise effectively.
Presidents Jean-Michel Aulas (Lyon), Robin Leproux (PSG), Jean-Claude Dassier (Marseille) and Nicolas De Tavernost (president of M6, Bordeaux's major shareholder) got around the table in a swanky Parisian hotel to mull over a predictable menu. They discussed a new split of TV rights more weighted towards their clubs, compensation for soon-to-be-withdrawn tax breaks for players, a reduction of the number of Ligue 1 clubs to 18 and a more club-led general governance model, such as the Premier League operates.
The question isn't whether the clubs will succeed in dragging the French establishment kicking and screaming into the future - come on, we know the big clubs always get their way in these matters - but how it will affect what has become a thrillingly open championship. Michel Platini may be perturbed to see his home nation moving towards the Premier League or La Liga model, but the feeling among the Big Four's boardrooms that they are playing catch-up in Europe hasn't materialised overnight.
The suspicion that France is beginning to bridge a gap in European club competition will only strengthen their resolve to build on the progress. How the logic-defying likes of Montpellier will negotiate this is what remains to be seen. Certainly the unconvincing reign of Thiriez isn't helping them to stave off the threat.
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